Dusseldorf, Germany

Monday July 26th

Today we toured Dusseldorf on a “Hop on, hop off” bus tour- -it was pouring rain for most of the day, so it was good to be on the bus, but we were prepared with rain ponchos and umbrellas nonetheless.
We saw the old town (Altstadt), King's street (Koenig's Allee) with the canals and fancy shops, market area, the River Rhine etc...
We went for a lovely walk in the old town and saw the statues of the cartwheeling children which is the symbol of Dusseldorf. Kids are supposed to do cartwheels and then ask for a penny bitte. In the afternoon, the rain let up and we were able to cruise along the Rhine and see the city from a different perspective. The architecture is beautiful and reminded me a lot of Ottawa – big city options, but in a cozy city atmosphere.

In the evening, we met Oma's other brother – Uncle Peter and his son Peter Jr. Oliver last met his uncle in Las Vegas in 1994, so it had been quite awhile. It was his first time meeting his cousin, so that was very nice for all. It was very kind of them to give the girls charm bracelets so we are going to look for other vacation charms along our travels.

After a delicious supper, we walked to the local square where the girls ordered ice cream in German
and then fed the ducks. We are all experiencing some jetlag still....I was up for most of the night, as was Zoe....but it's getting better!

Mik – I enjoyed learning about how the people threw manure at the King while he was visiting on Koenig's allee and it was fun to feed the ducks
Zoe – I liked the story about the artist who created the sculpture of the King. The people didn't like it and suggested lots of changes so the artist covered it up with a cloth for a week. He hired a little boy to bang on a piece of tin all day which suggested changes were being made. At the end of the week, they unveiled the statue again, and everyone thought it was great! The artist decided to sculpt the little boy to give him some credit.


Oliver – I really liked the tour of the city – There are so many different options for the arts and culture